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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ropa Vieja

Ropa Vieja in Spanish means "old clothes", but don't worry...it's much, much tastier than that. It's a traditional Cuban beef dish with shredded beef, green peppers, onions and tomatoes. There's a joint nearby that serves a great version, but the best I've ever had was at a Cuban restaurant in Key West called El Siboney. Here's what their version looks like:

The version I came up with came had a bit more of a tomato base than this one, which was fine. I also served it with yellow rice and beans, but I also added some pico de gallo and queso fresca. Came out great!

Ropa Vieja (Old Clothes)

Ingredients

2 lbs flank steak

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion - sliced thin

2 green bell peppers - seeded and sliced thin

3 cloves garlic - chopped

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or otherwise)

6 oz tomato paste

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp white vinegar

2 tbsp fresh cilantro - chopped

- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the flank steak in the vegetable oil on both sides for about 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.

- Add the broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, cumin, vinegar and cilantro into either a slow cooker or a large sauce pot if you plan on cooking it on the stove top. Whisk thoroughly. Add the beef, onions and peppers and mix. If you are using a slow cooker set it to low and walk away for 6 hours or so. If you are cooking it on the stove top, cook it on low with a tight lid for around 4 hours. Stirring only occasionally

- Remove the flank steak from the stew, and set aside to cool...say 15 minutes. Shred the steak with either a couple of forks or your hands. I suggest your hands. How often do we, as adults, get to play with our food like that. Add the shredded beef back to the pot, turn up the flame a bit and heat for 5 minutes or so until it's nice and hot.

OK I made it today and it was GREAT! Served it with soft flour tortillas to wrap, grated cheese and greek yogurt. NICE. It did it stovetop in a big pot and only change I made was I used a can of Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies instead of tomato sauce and added about 1/2 cup of chopped green olives about halfway through the cooking time. Que Rico!